In Notorious, a brilliant allegory of love and betrayal,
Hitchcock fuses two of his favorite elements: suspense and romance. A beautiful
woman with a tainted past (Ingrid Bergman) is enlisted by American agent Devlin
(Cary Grant) to spy on a ring of Nazis in post-war Rio. Her espionage work
becomes life-threatening after she marries the most debonair of the Nazi ring,
Alex (Claude Rains). Only Devlin can rescue her, but to do so he must face his
role in her desperate situation and acknowledge that he’s loved her all along.
Stunning performances, Ben Hecht’s excellent script, and Hitchcock’s direction
at its best make Notorious a perfect film.

***

Notorious is also famous, of course, for having the longest on-screen kiss,
with Bergman and Grant's clinch clocking in at a little over three minutes.
Their relationship had a real spark. Grant's character is unsure whether he can
trust Bergman, wary that she might hold a grudge against the US and its agents,
while Bergman thinks that Grant is just using her. Their uncertainties aid the
villains, of whom mummy's boy Alexander - a typically Hitchcockian villain - is
only the least despicable. There is also, of course, virtuoso direction from the
master. Early on there's a nice point-of-view shot when Alicia wakes up with a
hangover after a night socializing. Later, at Alexander's party, there's a
crane- shot in which the camera moves downstairs, glides across and over the
crowded ballroom and finally zeroes in on Alicia's hand, clutching the stolen
key to Alexander's mysterious wine cellar, all in a single magnificent take!

NOTE: These
Blu-ray captures were
taken directly from the
Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: MGM - Region 'A' -
Blu-ray (January 12'): Notorious benefits from the
1080P, dual-layered. transfer by MGM. The film's thick textures are
more apparent. The Criterion DVD was strong for the SD format but
the
Blu-ray ratchets up another solid notch. Contrast is a bit
more layered but detail doesn't rise substantially. Grain is more
prevalent but noise still exists in some of the darker scenes.
Overall the improvements will depend on your system and discerning
eye. It is easy to see that it has a far more film-like
representation but depth is not a feature exhibited by the HD
rendering, in this case. The image remains very clean with only a
few speckles. Predictably a shade more information appears in all 4
sides of the frame.

MGM offer a DTS-HD Master mono at 2026 kbps. This lossless track is
competent exporting the film's dialogue and Roy Webb's original
score - which is isolated in a simple Dolby transfer for those who
wish to partake. It is rendered to a flawless state with some depth
notable. There are optional English subtitles and I determine it to
be a Region 'A'
Blu-ray disc.

Extras mimic the last MGM (Premiere Collection) DVD release with the
dual commentaries, radio broadcast, Hitch interviews and
featurettes. Nothing new - but still quite excellent.

This seems essential to me - especially at the price offered. One of
Hitchcock's most sullen films with two of the best looking people ever
to grace the screen. I envisioned seeing this in its initial theatrical
run when I watched the
Blu-ray. That alone is worth the reasonable price.
Recommended!

***

NOTE: Defective MGM Hitchcock Premiere Collection
Reports
are coming in by the droves about the MGM Hitchcock Premiere
Collection.
We do not yet own the entire set and have only covered Notorious
and Rebecca
which played without issue on my Malata - but we understand many individual's
players are having problems with all, or selective transfers from the set. These
represent faults such as the disc wobbling in the tray, unsubstantiated noise in
playback, freezing and chapter skips. MGM must recall this set immediately.
If you own the set please verify if you too have these problems and report them
to the outlet you purchased them or MGM directly. If we find an email to use we
will post it here.

ADDITION: MGM - Region - Premiere
Collection - October 08': This ends up being a real toss up. The Criterion and new MGM are very
close in all categories. Image-wise the MGM is brighter and I think it comes
down to what you might prefer - personally I like the darker look of the
Criterion. The Premiere Collection issue, being brighter, can give the
impression, in some sequences, of being sharper (when I don't believe that it
really is) - but it also has tendency to show both more grain and digital
noise. In fact the Criterion may be slightly more detailed. I could make comments about the marginal differences in contrast and
black levels but without putting the magnifying glass too close I'd have to say
that both editions give a fine SD-DVD presentation of the image of Hitchcock's
Notorious. This is akin to our feelings about Rebecca.

Audio - I noted no discernable differences. The MGM also offers Spanish
and French subtitles (as well as the English that are included on the
Criterion).

Extras - what it seems to me is that MGM have used the Criterion as a
standard to achieve towards or attempt to minutely advance upon. They have
included two new commentaries (Rick Jewell and Drew Casper) and both are
excellent (I especially enjoyed the Casper one). I also greatly enjoyed the
Keane/Behlmer ones on the Criterion. Both have the complete broadcast of the
1948 Lux Radio Theater adaptation, starring Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotten.
MGM add two decent featurettes - The Ultimate Romance: the Making of
Notorious (28:20) and Alfred Hitchcock The Ultimate Spymaster
(13:09). Like on Rebecca
there are more Hitchcock Interviews - excerpts from the director's conversations
with filmmaker Francois Truffaut (16:22) and Peter Bogdanovich (2:19). There is
also some minor supplements - The American Film Institute Award: The Key to
Hitchcock (3:19), a restoration comparison (2:54), trailer and some stills
galleries (Posters, Portraits, Behind the Scenes). It's pretty complete and
impressive.

This is one of Hitchcock's most discussed and enigmatic
films and both SD-DVD editions (MGM and Criterion) do an upstanding job of
presenting the films and adding relevant discussion material. My opinion is that
serious Hitchcock fans will want both editions - otherwise as the Criterion is
out-of-print, the MGM seems a ridiculous deal at the offered price. Most should
probably indulge in the entire Premier Collection - especially if all the DVDs
are as stacked as this and Rebecca
- it will probably amount to being one of the THE DVD packages of the
year. MGM have really impressed me.

This will be one amazing Blu-ray
(vastly improving the compression and limiting the noise) if it eventually
reaches that lofty plateau.

ON THE CRITERION vs. the ANCHOR
BAY: These are two discs that make for a sterling comparison. The Anchor
Bay released almost 2 years earlier looks quite poor in certain capture
comparisons. I am interested in how much the Criterion appears cropped on the
left hand vertical side. Another intriguing difference is in the title credits -
this is similar to the Rebecca DVDs where Criterion used a totally different
font title than the Anchor Bay one. The sound, although very close to the
Criterion... has a bit of a hiss in the Anchor Bay version. The soundtrack for
Notorious was restored and preserved from a 1954 35mm acetate release print, a
35mm nitrate fine-grain master, and a 35mm nitrate optical music & effects track
positive. New 35mm magnetic analog masters and DA-88 digital masters were
created utilizing Sonic Solutions noise reduction software. The Extras are
obviously Criterions as well. In the Anchor Bay version, a whole minute
disappears. the Criterion title sequence only takes 13 seconds so I don't know
what is missing, only that something is.

In
the capture where Bergman and Grant are in the car together, you can
plainly see where the Criterion version does not have the print scratch,
but also the extent of the vertical cropping by Criterion. But the
Criterion is far too sharp ( 2nd last captures ) and the black levels
and contrast superbly done. The
picture for Notorious was restored and preserved from the original 35mm
nitrate camera negative, a 35mm nitrate fine-grain master, and a 35mm
nitrate copyright print. A newly printed 35mm fine-grain master, and the
35mm nitrate fine-grain master for Reels 4A and 5B, were used for the
digital film-to-tape transfer. Inherent film artifacts were corrected in
video with the MTI Digital Restoration System. I don't think I need to
say it but "Go for the Criterion... all the way.